


show me how big your brave is

by Miyukitty



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, First Crush, Fluff without Plot, Gift Exchange, Holding Hands, Illustrated, Insecurity, Pre-Relationship, Short One Shot, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13607664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyukitty/pseuds/Miyukitty
Summary: Lillie knew she couldn't do this alone. She always needed so much help. But she wasn't alone tonight, and so she wasn't afraid of what she'd have to do when the sun rose. It would be all right, because Moon was here with her.





	show me how big your brave is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fluffybun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffybun/gifts).



> happy valentine's, fluffybun, i'm your gifter this year! ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯ you had a lot of great pokemon requests, in the end i had the lillie on exeggutor island scene stuck in my head and went with this sort of missing-scene version?? i hope you like it!! 
> 
> title from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyAfjUHlFSM)

 

 

Exeggutor Island was only a short ferry ride from Seafolk Village, but the solitude made Lillie feel like she had slipped into another world.

 

The island preserve was small and uninhabited save for the wild beasts that roamed under the night sky. The isolation of nature was somewhat unnerving for her, but a little thrilling, too. Anything could be out there. The swaying tree silhouettes of a herd of Exeggutor moved along the coast, their distant calls echoing through the grassy hills further inland. She watched them with hushed excitement, not wanting to alert them to her hiding place.

 

Lillie was no trainer, and her inexperience often left her feeling like she had no place out in the wilderness. She was accustomed to surrounding herself with people to rely on to make up for her many shortcomings. She would always be indebted to Wicke, Professors Burnet and Kukui, Kahuna Hala, Hau… Even when she began traveling more in her search for answers, there were always companions to look out for her, a bag of repels at her side, and the safety of cities and civilization close by. She couldn't rely on herself.

 

Lillie knew she couldn't do this alone. She always needed so much help. But she wasn't alone tonight, and so she wasn't afraid of what she'd have to do when the sun rose. It would be all right, because Moon was here with her.

 

As the rain gusted in thick sheets outside of the shallow cavern they'd taken shelter in, Lillie stole a glance at her companion. Moon was looking out at the cloudy sky, seeming unperturbed by the unexpected storm. Nothing really fazed Moon, did it? She was Lillie's opposite in that regard. No matter what the world threw at her, Moon always took it in stride, always determined and positive and confident that she had the strength to make a difference. And somehow, maybe simply because she believed it, she really could.

 

Lillie swallowed around the lump in her throat, and forced herself to look outward to the sky. Always forward, never back.

 

It had been that way since the day they met. Moon risked her life on that collapsing bridge to protect Nebby without a second thought, when Lillie couldn't even will her shaking legs to move another step. Moon always moved forward. Lillie was always held back. She didn't know how to catch up, how to find an echo of that power in herself, but Moon made her wish to be braver, to change, to evolve. She didn't want to run away, not anymore.

 

Lillie exhaled, and wiped her palms on the damp fabric of her skirt. Her anxious heartbeat was racing as though she'd just run to the cave, even though they'd been sitting peacefully for a good hour or so, lost in thought while waiting out the rain. She chewed her lip nervously, tasting the sea salt that lingered there from the ocean spray, and shifted her legs to a more comfortable position folded underneath her.

 

She was going to do something brave tonight. It was Moon who gave her the courage to do so.

 

She picked at the hem of her blouse as she tried to steel her nerves. She had such a long way to go, but already she knew she had changed from when they'd first met. The sheltered, timid Lillie she used to be could never have dreamed of all the places she'd been, all the Pokemon she'd only ever read about, and what she was planning to do in order to save her mother and Nebby both. Maybe nothing was truly impossible, if she worked hard enough to make it happen.

 

Maybe the next city she went to, she'd have the guts to actually go inside the fancy department store and try on the pretty clothes instead of gazing longingly through the windows. She could! It was silly to feel like she wasn't allowed to… right? Nothing was holding her back anymore. Lillie imagined with the faintest hint of a smile that someday after all this was over, she could even become a trainer herself: someone brave enough to travel to whole new worlds. She really could.

 

Tentatively, she reached out her hand, and brushed her fingers lightly against the curve of Moon's wrist.

 

It wasn't as farfetched a dream as Lillie had once believed, for someone like her... It was Moon who showed her that. Moon was everything she admired. Was it any wonder that Lillie selfishly wanted to stay by her side as long as she could?

 

When Moon didn't stir, or pull away, Lillie hesitantly slid her touch lower, and clumsily took Moon's hand into her own.

 

Moon's hand was warmer than hers. Lillie almost blurted out an apology on impulse for her cold fingers, when she realized Moon was looking at her. Moon didn't say anything, though, and Lillie's voice shrank into a pitiful squeak under scrutiny.

 

_Be brave! Show her!_

 

She ducked her head shyly, feeling heat rise to her cheeks as her hair fell over her eyes, but she didn't let go. She held her breath as Moon turned her hand with surprising gentleness, pressing their palms together and lacing their fingers. She squeezed her hand encouragingly, and Lillie squeezed back.

 

As abruptly as it began, the capricious rain petered out to a halt. They watched through a break in the clouds as the moonlight spilled onto the coast, washing the palm trees in glittering silver. The stars winked back into view, steady points against the deep midnight blue of the sky.

 

Lillie closed her eyes, trying to will the disappointment from showing on her expression. She wanted the rain to last longer, forever, so that she could have stolen more time with Moon. She had waited too long to move, frozen by her fear. She forced a smile as she felt Moon rising beside her, and braced herself for the loss of warmth.

 

But Moon didn't let go. With a giddy whoop of laughter, Moon dragged her stumbling to her feet. Lillie yelped in surprise as she was pulled forward into the sudden light. Always forward, with nothing holding her back.

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
